Training – Page 37 – The A.L.I.V.E. Experience

#3 Question- What Is The Best Type Of Cardio To Burn Fat Faster?

The simple answer to this question can boil down to a number of complicated factors, but let’s shoot straight, it really boils down to one question: Which type do you want to do? Unless you’re stepping on stage or getting ready for a photo shoot in a few weeks, then one of the key factors in determining your cardio type should be what you enjoy doing.

My husband hates doing cardio so would say, “I don’t have any kind of cardio I enjoy doing.” However, an easy solution for him is to listen to one of his motivational CD’s on his iPod to mask the boredom. It’s funny because he’ll tell me, “I didn’t want to stop my cardio today until I finished my audio!”

Before we dive into the science, keep in mind the “best” type of cardio is the type you’ll actually do. This is a motto I apply to my training and even nutrition for that matter. It’s often better to stick to what’s “enjoyable” rather than what’s “ideal” for long-term results.

Your Two Cardio Options

There are essentially two types of cardio: high-intensity and steady-state. Before we go any further, let’s make sure we’re on the same page as to how we define each of these two.

Often, when I mention high-intensity cardio to someone, they immediately say, “Yeah, the cardio I do is high-intensity.”

Then I ask them how long their intervals are and they either look at me like I’m from another planet, or they think they miss understood what I’m asking and say “I go for 30 minutes.”

Wrong answer, Private, wrong answer.

High-intensity, at least as for purposes of this article, is defined as something so intense that you couldn’t keep it up for more than 60 seconds — no matter how badly you wanted to! So even though your incline treadmill walk may feel like “high-intensity cardio,” it ain’t.

Running at 10 mph on a 10 degree incline for 10 seconds; now that is high-intensity!

Now that we’re on the same page as to the definition, you can clearly see that to do high-intensity cardio, you’d have to do it in spurts — do some, rest, then do some more, and so on. That’s exactly what we call high-intensity interval training, or HIIT (pronounced “hit”).

When most people think of cardio, they think of steady-state cardio. For that reason, I often simply refer to it as regular cardio. Since high-intensity cardio has it own, cool acronym, let’s refer to steady-state cardio as “SSC.”

Steady-state cardio is any cardio that’s done at an intensity low enough such that it can be maintained for a longer period of time. While you may warm-up and cool-down, any cardio session where you keep roughly the same pace throughout your session is steady-state.

That’s right, even if you’re sweatin’ like a whore in church, it’s still not high-intensity if you can do if for more than a few minutes.

What you probably don’t know, is that while you are slowly burning “some” calories, others[1] are stripping twice as much fat off their bodies and in half the time!

FACT

You can burn fat 2x FASTER and in HALF the time by incorporating High Intensity Training (HIT) into your exercise routine.

Cardiovascular exercise (slow and at a steady pace) burns much fewer calories than HIT.
Doing too much cardio is tough on your joints and ligaments.

Too much cardio will result in burning muscle instead of fat.

THE SCIENCE

When it comes to weight loss, it doesn’t matter what type of fuel (food) you use. What matters is how many calories you burn as opposed to how many calories you take in.

As already stated; In order to lose fat, you must have a negative energy expenditure. Simple!

Energy out > Energy in

The Basics of Burning Fat

Our energy comes from fat , carbs and protein. But which one our bodies utilizes depends on the kind of activity we are preforming.

Now, most people want to use fat for energy. Sounds legitimate as we assume, the more fat we can use as fuel, the less fat we’ll have in our bodies. But, using more fat doesn’t automatically lead to losing more fat.

Understanding the best way to burn fat starts with some basic facts on HOW your body gets its energy:

The body primarily uses carbs and fats for fuel. A small amount of protein is used during exercise, but protein is mainly used to repair the muscles after exercise.

The ratio of these fuels will shift depending on the activity you are doing.

Given the metabolic pathways available to break down carbs for energy are more efficient than the pathways available for fat breakdown, the body will rely more on carbs for fuel than fat during HIT. This is good.

For long, slower exercise, fat is used more for energy than carbs.

When it comes to weight loss, it doesn’t matter what type of fuel you use. What matters is how many calories you burn as opposed to how many calories you take in.

That said…you burn WAY more calories during High Intensity Training than your standard aerobic exercise.

Think about it this way: When you sit or sleep, you’re in your prime fat-burning mode. But, you’ve probably never contemplated the idea of sleeping more to lose weight, as lovely as that thought is.

The bottom line: Just because you’re using more fat as energy doesn’t mean you’re burning more calories.

THE SKINNY

The more intense the workout, and the more muscles utilized, the more oxygen is consumed as muscles use energy when they contract. The more oxygen is consumed, the more energy is expended; the more calories you burn!

#3 Question- What Is The Best Type Of Cardio To Burn Fat Faster? Read More »

4 Craving Crushing Tips – Part I

1 Comment / Nutrition, Training

Being hungry sucks. In fact, it’s the #1 reason people struggle to follow diets.

Think about it: When is the last time you “cheated” on your diet when you WEREN’T hungry?

Exactly.

Simply put, the key to sticking with any diet is learning how to control hunger and manage cravings.

And that’s what I’m here to discuss today – four of my top EIGHT craving crushing tips:

#1 – Volumize your meals: A 400 calorie meal can be exceptionally filling or extremely unsatisfying depending on the types of foods that make up the meal.

For example, a single Dollar Menu fast-food burger can easily pack home 400 calories. Same for 4 Reese’s Cups.

I don’t know about you, but neither of those items are leaving me “full” and satisfied.

At the same time, a HUGE salad chock full of veggies galore and topped with an ample portion of lean protein such as grilled chicken or fish can be a struggle to finish, while containing even fewer calories.

Want to walk away from every meal feeling full, but without packing on the pounds? The solution is simple: make sure to always choose foods that provide a lot of volume without a lot of calories. Huge salads, lean proteins, and even more veggies to fill out the ol’ plate make for a wholesome, high volume, low calorie meal every time.

#2 – Chew gum: Feeling hungry between meals? Reach for a piece of sugar-free gum. The simple act of chewing and keeping your mouth occupied will have an immediate effect on your level of hungry and quickly have you forgetting about being hungry.

#3 – Eat MORE fat: Out of the three macronutrients, the most satiating is fat. By adding healthy fat to a meal in the form of healthy oils, nuts, avocado, organic butter, etc, you’ll automatically increase the acute and long-term satiety of the meal. Feel fuller faster and stay fuller longer – a great combo!

#4 – Eat more frequently: The longer you wait between feeding, the more hungrier you get. Simple solution: eat more frequently. I recommend a frequency of 5 to 7 feedings per day, spaced out approximately 2 – 3 hours apart.

we got 4 more if you want them, let us know…………

4 Craving Crushing Tips – Part I Read More »

Gain Muscle and Lose Fat – Super Method #2 (Anabolic Burst Cycling)

Nutrition, Training

by Joel Marion

I went over Super Method #1 – MEGA Carb Loading, and today I’d like to share a different, yet enormously effective method called Anabolic Burst Cycling through Diet and Exercise (ABCDE).

To be honest, the whole ABCDE approach is rather old news. I first read about it back in Muscle Media 2000 (man, I miss that magazine) some ten years ago when Bill Phillips interviewed some crazy under-the-radar dude named Torbjorn Akerfeldt.

Good ol’ Tori went on to unveil some interesting scientific theory over the course of a 4-part article series (and this was in a PRINT magazine, so it left you hanging for an entire MONTH before you got to see part 2, 3, 4, etc…and you thought waiting for my next blog post was bad!) along with the basic guidelines of his approach for cycling periods of overfeeding and underfeeding in short bursts (2 weeks at a time).

To give you a simple explanation of the ABCDE approach, you eat a bunch of calories along with intense, high volume muscle building workouts (minimal cardio) for 2 weeks, then transition into a rather strict, intensive diet with a ton of cardio.

The principles are based on research that Akerfeldt shared showing that when overfeeding, anabolic hormones reach their peak after two weeks, while continuing to “bulk” after that point leads to more fat gain and less muscle gain (diminishing returns).

The same thing was observed with regards to fat loss and fat burning enzymes – 2 weeks and then things tend to slow.

So why not take advantage of those “magic” 2 weeks and then when things tend to slow down, then switch gears and take advantage of another magic 2 but while concentrating on the opposite goal.

This is the theory anyway, and for the most part, it works quite well.

There are several problems with the original outlined plan of attack, however, mainly being that recent gains in lean mass are easily reversed when you jump right into a severe calorie restricted diet thereafter (especially with a ton of added cardio).

In reality, you’d need a little assistance (i.e. drugs – not recommended) to make this type of extremely cycling really work.

Fortunately, going with a more moderate approach solves this problem.

Here are the guidelines that I recommend when using the ABCDE approach:

1. Two weeks of higher calories along with serious muscle-building workouts (minimal cardio) followed by two weeks of lower calories and intense fat burning workouts (with much less cardio than originally recommended)

2. On higher calorie weeks, use a macro breakdown of 30/45/25 (Protein/Carbs/Fat) and a total calorie intake equal to 18 x Lean Body Mass (total weight – fat weight)

3. On lower calorie weeks, follow a strategic fat loss diet, such as my Cheat Your Way Thin Diet (core phase)

Essentially, it’s very easy. Simply alternate back and forth between mini muscle building and mini fat loss phases of 2-week duration. The variety alone (both training and diet) is one of the major draws of doing something like this.

Over the course of 12-16 weeks, expect to be significantly leaner with more lean muscle – guaranteed.

Keep rockin!

Gain Muscle and Lose Fat – Super Method #2 (Anabolic Burst Cycling) Read More »

Gain Muscle and Lose Fat – Super Method #1

Nutrition, Training

by Joel Marion

In our last post on gaining muscle and losing fat we discussed that while these goals do indeed require different training and nutrition strategies, these strategies are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Meaning: You CAN lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously provided you use a strategic, timed approach.

Also in that post, I loosely gave mention to several different methods to achieve both goals simultaneously, and in these next few posts I want to take a deeper, more specific look at each.

Today’s method: MEGA Carbohydrate Loading

With this type of carb loading, you will consume 50% of your total daily caloric intake and 95% of your daily carbohydrate intake within 3 hours of beginning your muscle building workout.

By doing this, you provide your body with a massive surge of carbs and calories at the exact time that it is most responsive to suck up all those nutrients and use them for muscle repair and recovery.

NOTE: In order for this to work, you’ve got to be doing INTENSE, high volume workouts.

Go with a macronutrient breakdown of 30% protein, 40% carbohydrates, and 30% fat.

Assuming a 45-minute workout, the Mega Carbohydrate Load starts with your pre/during workout beverage, followed by your post workout beverage, followed by a carbohydrate containing protein shake 1/2 hour later, followed by two whole food meals.

The first whole food meal should be consumed 45 minutes after the carb containing protein shake, and then the second whole food meal another 45 minutes later.

The rest of the meals of the day should be protein + fat + veggies (with minimal carbs).

Also, by doing this the bulk of your calorie and carb intake comes at the most anabolic time of the day, and the rest of the time you are actually in a caloric deficit while limiting insulin and carbohydrate.

Here’s an example:

8:00 am: Low-carb protein shake with added fiber; 2 tablespoons of olive oil

10:30 am: 3 eggs plus 4 whites scrambled with 2 slices of cheese; 4 strips of bacon; 1/2 package of spinach

1:00 pm: Low-carb protein bar; 2 oz of dry roasted nuts

3:00 pm: 8 oz Cheeseburger (no bun, wrapped in lettuce); large salad with very low-calorie dressing

5:00 pm (immediately pre-workout): Quickly digested protein/carb beverage

5:45 pm (immediately post-workout): quickly digested protein/carb beverage

6:15 pm: Protein/Carb shake with Skim Milk

7:00 pm: 2 oz of pasta (dry weight); 4 oz of chicken breast; 2 slices of 12-grain bread; package of broccoli

7:45 pm: 2 oz of pasta (dry weight); 4 oz of chicken breast; 2 slices of 12-grain bread; package of asparagus

10:00 pm: Low-carb protein shake with added fiber; 1 tablespoon of olive oil; 2 cups of green beans; 20 grams of fish oil

NOTE: Do not directly copy my diet as it likely calls for far too many calories for your size and build. Instead, copy the structure and the overlying principles based on your own calorie needs. Also, it is fundamentally important to consume just as many green veggies throughout the day in non-workout meals, as is apparent in my example above.

How’s THAT for free content?

Gain Muscle and Lose Fat – Super Method #1 Read More »

HOW to Lose Fat and Gain Muscle – Simultaneously

Training

By Joel Marion

Can it be done?

The answer? Yes. BUT, only with a VERY strategic approach.

Now, in order to understand how these seemingly mutually exclusive goals can be accomplished simultaneously, we need to understand a few things about achieving your goals in general.

First, your goals are a direct result of both your training and nutrition program.

Second, optimal training for fat loss and optimal training to gain muscle are different.

Third, optimal nutritional strategies for fat loss and optimal nutritional strategies for gaining muscle are different.

Let’s take a look at each.

From a caloric balance perspective, in order to gain muscle you need to be taking in surplus levels of calories – there is simply no way around it. Fact is, it’s nearly impossible to gain muscle mass while in a caloric deficit 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Period.

Conversely, if your goal is to lose body fat, you need to create some sort of caloric deficit (i.e. you are eating less than you burn).

Now, those two situations may indeed seem mutually exclusive, but they’re not.